What If?
by hsmgirl14
Summary: What if Troy and Gabriella never sang at the ski lodge? What would have happened? Friendships are made and some are strengthened. Read and find out what happens! troyella. CHAPTER 16 NOW UP!
1. A Warm Welcome To East High

_**Chapter One**_

My breaths began to steadily quicken with intense emphasis as the glowing red numbers of the Emerson alarm clock ticked by even quicker. Each minute seemed as a second, speeding up the arrival of the unwanted consequence of a job transfer: East High School. What could I possibly say about my horrible fate that was certain to flip my world as I know it upside down? Nothing, absolutely nothing.

"Gabby?"

An unsure, almost nervous voice asked from the doorway, disturbing my deep train of thought. Isabella waddled into the room on her short little legs and stopped directly in front of me, gazing up at me with her huge sparkling brown eyes. My eyes. Dad's eyes. The little three-year-old did not have any response to my sudden silence.

"What w'ong, Gabby?"

I looked at her and vaguely shook my head.

"Nothing, Iz," I replied.

Isabella chose not to believe my lie, and quite frankly, I couldn't lie to a three-year-old. She continued to unblinkingly stare at me.

"Okay," I finally gave in. "You got me. I'm just nervous about going to a new school, that's all."

Isabella nodded as if she fully comprehended what I had just told her. She was more understanding than any friend I have ever known.

"Gabriella."

Another more solemn and confident voice broke the silence. My mom walked in and sat down next to me on the bed, causing the old mattress to squeak under the extra pressure forced upon it.

"Are you ready to go?" she asked quietly.

I took a deep breath and looked over at her, nodding slightly. Mom lightly touched my shoulder with a reassuring smile and led the way out the door. I paused, glancing back around my room and finally shut the door with a soft _snap_.

It seemed that the ten-minute car ride did not even occur, because almost instantly after Mom's black Ford Acura pulled out of the driveway, we were pulling into the crowded parking lot of East High School. Before Mom unlocked the car to let the three of us out into the fresh new world of this high school, she turned around in her seat to face little Isabella.

"Now Izzy," Mom began. "I want you to behave while we're inside Gabby's school. Okay?"

Isabella nodded like she meant it. Mom smiled at her and pressed the black 'unlock' button on the arm rest of the car's door. I slowly opened the door and stood up, glancing around at my surroundings. There were other people exiting their vehicles as well. I sighed and picked up my light blue shoulder backpack, waiting patiently for Mom to unhook Isabella from her car-seat. The two of them once again led the way up to the enormously colossal high school, I dragging heartlessly behind them.

The kids on either side of the walkway to the main front doors paid absolutely no attention to us. They were chatting, hugging, and whatever else they could do to catch up after the winter break. It seemed that if you weren't a member of someone's social group, you weren't noticed. My heartbeat quickened as I thought this through.

I snapped back into reality as Mom held one of the front doors open for me. Inside, East High was just like any other school, dark cream-colored lockers, white, black-speckled floors, and creamy white walls. There was an occasional red banner announcing the basketball championship game coming up in two weeks and many other posters of various activities going on in the school.

As my sister and I took in our surroundings, Mom suddenly headed left and turned the handle on the door that had a bronze plaque with the words _Principal Matsui _on it in silver letters. I followed, not wanting to be left in the hallway with no one to turn to.

"Excuse me," Mom said to a lady clad in a dressy red suit.

The lady, who was sitting behind a desk typing away at a computer, looked up and smiled at the newcomers.

"Hello," she said, "I believe I do not own the pleasure of knowing who you are. I'm Cindy Graham, the head secretary here at East High."

"I'm Melina Montez," Mom answered. "My daughter, Gabriella, is new here and needs her schedule. We were told it would already be set up and ready to go."

"Ah yes," Cindy replied. "I have it right...right..."

She began to search through a small stack of papers.

"Here."

Cindy handed the packet of paper to me.

"Now," she instructed, "you give that first paper there to your homeroom teacher once you arrive in her classroom. The second paper is your class schedule, along with what teacher and what room number. The third, fourth, and fifth paper are a map of our school. Your classrooms are highlighted in yellow and the areas highlighted in pink are the extra areas, such as the gymnasium, auditorium, and cafeteria. The last few papers are school rules and guidelines, along with a paper directed to the parents."

"Thank you," I managed to muster.

"Our head principal, Principal Matsui, will personally show you to your homeroom," Cindy went on. "Ah, there he is now."

Mom, Isabella, and I looked up to see a friendly-looking Asian man emerge from the door at the head of the room wearing a black suit and green tie.

"Ah, Mrs. Montez," he said. "I've been expecting you."

"Hi, I'm Melina," Mom answered, shaking Mr. Matsui's outstretched hand. "These are my daughters, Gabriella" — she paused as I stepped forward to shake the principal's hand— "and Isabella." Isabella waved and smiled.

"Nice to meet you," Mr. Matsui smiled. "Shall we go on?"

Mom nodded and picked Isabella up, following him out the door.

"Thanks again," I said to Cindy as I followed suit.

"No problem, Miss Montez. Enjoy your first day."

Smiling, I closed the door behind me. I laughed at my next thought: I had made my first friend at East High.

As Mr. Matsui led Mom, Isabella and I down the hall, I couldn't help but notice how close everyone at East High was with each other in their own little worlds. How on _earth_ was I ever going to fit in here?

"Your records are very impressive," Mr. Matsui said to me as we reached the stairs that would take me to my homeroom and away from the comfort of my mom and sister. "I expect your light will shine very brightly here at East High."

"Mom," I complained. "I don't want to be the school's freaky genius girl again."

"Just be Gabriella," Mom replied, kissing my forehead.

Isabella waved and smiled. I smiled back, stepping forward to the stairs. I began the climb, looking back once more at Mom and Isabella. Mom waved. I smiled again and finished my route up the stairs, calmly speaking to myself that everything would turn out for the best. I am _such_ a good liar.

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	2. A Best Friend?

_**Chapter Two**_

I had only but a few minutes to reach my homeroom, but people were still lounging in the hallway, so I felt like I was okay. A door with a bronze plaque reading _Mrs. Darbus - Drama_ in bright purple curvy letters caught my eye. It was a bit overwhelming to see miniature theater curtains hanging around the door as well. I took a deep breath and entered the slightly crowded classroom. Even my homeroom was arranged into cliques of all different styles.

As Cindy had directed, I handed the first paper off of my stack to Mrs. Darbus and with a smile, left her presence. I glanced around the room trying to find an empty seat. I spotted one towards the back of the room.

"Excuse me," I said to a girl with bright blond hair who was standing in my way.

Without even realizing it, the girl moved out of my way, which, as I would later find out, was unlike her nature. I set my backpack on the ground next to my feet and waited patiently for homeroom to finally end. It was torture not having anyone to talk to. At least in class I can focus on my studies instead of my non-existent social life.

I was relieved when the irritating bell finally rang, signaling time for first period. Luckily, I didn't have to travel that far. It was only a few doors down. Without pausing, I walked down the hall and as I figured I would be, I was the second person into the room besides the teacher. A friendly-looking dark-skinned girl wearing a pink headband was already sitting in the center of the room, writing furiously in a notebook with a fuzzy blue pen. I remembered her from homeroom. I took this chance and sat down in the seat next to her, hoping she would notice me. Luckily, she did.

"Hello," she said in a sunny voice. "I don't think I've ever seen you around here before."

"Yeah," I answered. "I'm new here."

The girl nodded and said, "I'm Taylor."

She stuck out her hand as an introduction.

"Gabriella," I replied, shaking it.

"So," Taylor went on, "what do you think of East High so far?"

"It's big," I responded, smiling that Taylor found it was funny. "It's nice though, it's just bigger than my other school."

"Oh," Taylor remarked. "Well, in case you're interested, you're welcome to sit with me and my friends at lunch. We'll look for you."

"Thanks," I said, truly thankful. "I'd like that."

The classroom became louder and more unruly as more and more people entered the huge classroom. My attention suddenly swivelled to the door as a boy with shaggy brown hair and bright blue eyes entered the room, poised and carefree. I swear I saw him look in my direction as he took a seat only two desks away from me. The boy was obviously late, because before he sat down, the teacher, Mrs. Andrews, scolded him for it.

"Nice of you to join us, Troy."

"Nice to see you too, Mrs. Andrews," the boy called Troy said smartly.

Mrs. Andrews overlooked his smart attitude and began to teach the lesson. Throughout the class, Taylor would nudge me with her elbow because she thought I was 'zoning out' as she called it. Was I? I wasn't sure. All I knew was that I hadn't stopped thinking about Troy throughout the entire geometry lesson.

At lunch that afternoon, I finally mustered up enough courage to ask Taylor what she knew about Troy.

"Troy? You mean Troy Bolton?" she asked, looking at me like I was crazy.

I nodded, wondering why on earth it was such a huge deal.

"I wouldn't call myself an expert in that particular sub-species," Taylor replied. "However, you're welcome to go ask the cheerleaders, though, if you want a full character profile."

I laughed. Taylor had a way of making things that weren't supposed to be funny, hilarious. I all of a sudden stopped laughing as I glanced over to the table at the head of the cafeteria, Troy's table. I spotted him yet again at the head of that table, laughing and joking with all of his jock basketball friends.

"Don't tell me," Taylor assumed, noticing the direction where I had just looked. "You like him don't you?"

I looked over at her and shrugged my shoulders.

"I don't know," I said.

"Gabriella," Taylor said in a motherlike voice, "we exist in an alternate universe to Troy the basketball boy. It'd be best if you left things as they were and didn't get involved."

I looked down at my lunch tray.

"Yeah, I suppose," I shrugged.

"I'm sorry," Taylor apologized, "but, I've been at this school long enough to know how jock's minds work. They don't notice anyone out of their social groups."

"I guess you're right," I finally agreed. "Thanks, Taylor, you saved me from an instant heartache."

"No problem," she responded, "what are friends for, right?"

I perked up at this sentence. Friends.

"Right."

The lunch bell sounded, signaling the end of lunch. Taylor, the rest of her friends, and I left the cafeteria and headed to our next class.

After school, I decided instead of taking the bus home, I would walk, since it was only a few blocks away from the school. I said goodbye to Taylor and began walking in the direction of home. Someone else decided to as well.

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	3. The Party Invitation

_**Chapter 3**_

I glanced behind me for I had that sickening feeling of being followed.

Nobody.

I kept walking, but at a quicker pace. I finally turned all the way around. Troy Bolton stopped in his tracks and looked straight at me with his beautiful bright blue eyes.

"Are you following me?" I managed to ask.

I had no idea what else to say. That phrase seemed like it would supply itself. Troy was silent, not taking his gorgeous gaze off of me.

"No," he finally replied.

"Funny," I said, taking a few steps toward him, "it seemed like you were."

"Well, I wasn't," Troy said. "And even if I was, I wouldn't have let on so quickly."

"So you were," I concluded.

Troy shrugged and walked all the way up to me.

"I think we got off on the wrong foot," he said, smiling. "I'm Troy."

He held out his hand.

"Gabriella," I replied, shaking his outstretched hand.

"Nice to meet you, _Gabriella_," Troy said, emphasizing my name.

My heart fluttered as he said it.

"So, I-I'll see you around then?" I stuttered.

"Most definitely," Troy responded.

I smiled and turned around, finishing my journey home with a love struck smile on my face. It was official: I was experiencing my very first crush at East High School.

I couldn't help but think about Troy all throughout the night. I even dreamed about him. He was so smooth and cool, but thoughtful and sensitive at the same time. How did I get all of this information about him by talking to him for basically a minute? I'm not quite sure, but I'm glad I got to talk to him.

The next morning, I was actually anxious to go to homeroom, the thought of seeing Troy again fresh in my mind. When I arrived, Taylor was already there, as I supposed she would be.

"Hey, Taylor," I greeted as I sat down behind her.

"Hey, Gab," Taylor responded. She paused and added, "You don't mind if I call you Gab do you?"

"No, it's fine," I laughed. "In fact, my sister calls me Gabby, but that's just for her and no one else."

"You have a sister?" Taylor asked.

"Yeah. Isabella. She's three."

Taylor smiled saying, "Aww! How adorable."

"I have a picture of her," I announced.

I fumbled around in my backpack and I pulled out my dark blue wallet out if it's pocket. I unsnapped it and showed Taylor the very first picture on the picture fold.

A little girl with short, curly, chocolate brown hair, and brown eyes smiled back up at us. Taylor giggled as she handed the wallet back to me.

"She is the _cutest_ little thing I've ever seen," Taylor squealed. "All I have are two older sisters, one younger sister, and two twin younger brothers."

"All?" I said in disbelief.

"Yep," Taylor said. "Tristan and Tyler who are four, Tabitha who's ten, Tiffany who's eighteen, and Tara who's nineteen."

"Wow, that's a pretty full household," I laughed.

"It get's pretty hectic, but Mom and Dad love us just the same," Taylor confessed.

I smiled. Mrs. Darbus walked forcefully into the room and began to talk hurriedly to us. I didn't quite take in a word because I was too busy focusing on the person who had hurried in just before Mrs. Darbus did. Troy turned around in his seat and smiled at me. I couldn't help but smile back. He then held up an envelope that was addressed to me and mouthed, 'After class.' I nodded, not entirely certain of what would happen.

Mrs. Darbus continued to talk and she finally said something that caught my attention.

"Tomorrow," Mrs. Darbus went on, "during free period, will be our auditions for our winter music_al_. First solo auditions and then pair auditions for our two leads."

I noticed that the blond girl turned around and smiled at the blond boy behind her, clapping happily. The bell sounded and I told Taylor I would meet her in geometry. I hurried out the door only to find Troy waiting for me.

"Here you go," he said, handing me the envelope. "It's an invitation to a party next Saturday night at my house. There are directions in there and everything."

"Thanks," I said. I added in a joking voice, "But how come you're so interested in me all of a sudden? I mean, I thought people like you never went out of their social groups."

I smiled.

"Hey, come on," Troy said, "it doesn't hurt to meet a few new people. You're welcome to bring anyone you like. So I'll see you there?"

Not knowing what to say, I nodded. After he smiled one last time and went off to talk to a few other friends and give them invitations, I hurried off as fast as I could to geometry, anxiously awaiting Taylor's reaction to the party.

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	4. Sharpay Evans

_**Chapter 4**_

Taylor stared at me with a blank expression and read the invitation over one more time. She sighed and shook her head.

"Gabriella," she said in a cheerless tone, "I don't think so. I mean, Troy and his friends have never even looked at people like me, much less spoken. How do you think that I could go to one of their parties."

This was the exact reaction I was hoping to avoid.

"Come on Taylor," I pleaded. "It would be a great opportunity for you...and me!"

"I still don't know," Taylor sighed. "I'm under the impression that Troy never really liked me."

"Don't say stuff like that," I said, my voice rising.

I wasn't quite sure why I was getting so angry at the turn-down. It's not like it's _my_ party we're talking about here.

"Troy's not the basketball robot you think he is," I went on. "He's...he's...I don't know...he's different from them I guess. Come on, there has to be something that you like about him."

"Not Troy, per say..." Taylor said, unsure of what she would say next.

I looked at her with a puzzled expression on my face.

"Okay," Taylor said, "but you have to promise not to tell this to anyone and I repeat..no one."

"Oh please," I laughed. "Who am I going to tell?"

Taylor smiled and continued, "I've kind of always had a thing for his friend...Chad."

My eyes widened.

"All the more evidence for you to go!" I persuaded her.

She looked down at the invitation one last time.

"I guess it would be okay," she replied slowly.

I leaned over and hugged her.

"Yes!" I squealed. "Oh, this is going to be so much fun."

"So!" came a sharp, cold, high-pitched voice from behind me.

I saw Taylor glance up and the smile wipe from her face. I cautiously turned around and saw two vicious light brown eyes glaring down at me, Sharpay Evans. I was silent.

"It seems like you know Troy Bolton," the blond snapped.

"Not really," I managed to say, despite the threatening stare.

"Oh well, Troy doesn't usually interact with..._new students,_" Sharpay said, adding emphasis on the last two words.

"Uh, why not?" I asked cautiously.

"It's pretty much basketball twenty-four-seven with him," Sharpay explained with a smile on her face.

'Hm,' I though, 'maybe this Sharpay girl wasn't as bad as people thought.'

"But," she added in a harsher tone, "Just be warned, Montez, if you ever talk to Troy again, you'd better watch your step."

And with a swift flip of her light blond hair as she turned around, she sauntered off out the door, smiling at Troy as he walked in, just as the warning bell sounded. Because Sharpay was so forceful, I actually believed her threat.

I looked over at Taylor, who had a fearful look on her face.

"Great," I whimpered, "I've been at this school for two days and Sharpay Evans already hates my guts."

"Oh come on," Taylor attempted to reassure, "she doesn't hate you...all that much. I'm sure she can't do anything that bad."

I nodded, forcing myself to believe her. I sighed and turned straight in my seat, waiting for class to start. I would have stayed in here forever if I could. I couldn't face Sharpay again. Not after what she said to me. What if she really meant what she said and did something next time I ran into her? I let all of these thoughts process through my brain, hoping they wouldn't occur. I was so glad when Mrs. Andrews began the lesson, that I hadn't even noticed Troy enter the room a few minutes earlier.

After class, Troy stopped me on the way out.

"Hey," he said, "what's up? You don't seem like you're feeling well today."

"I'm fine," I squeaked, turning and walking once more. He followed me.

"Okay, uh, I saw Sharpay talking to you," he brought up. "What'd she want?"

I took a deep breath and replied, "Just saying hello. Is she invited to your party?"

"Yeah," Troy said, "my friend Zeke made me invite her. He's crazy about her."

"Hm, interesting," I said. "Well, I'd better get to class. See ya later."

I smiled and walked away.

"Bye," he said after I had left.

He stood there, thinking for a moment. He shook his head and walked in the opposite direction.

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	5. Photo Albums and Phone Calls

_**Chapter 5**_

That night after school, I sat on my bed reminiscing on the day's events. The invitation, my encounter with Sharpay, and Taylor's secret. It's amazing what goes on in a day of high school. My thought process was soon interrupted as the phone rang. I quickly stood up and ran to it, thinking that it could possibly be Troy.

"Hello?" I said into the receiver.

Whoever was on the other line hung up instantly. I pressed 'end' on the phone. It rang again. I considered answering it.

"Hello?"

They hung up again. The phone rang a third time.

"Hello?" I said, my voice becoming more earnest and frightened.

"Last warning, Montez. Come near him and it will be the last thing you ever do. You can count on it."

The sharp voice of Sharpay was suddenly cut off as she hung up. I, out of fear, put the phone back on the receiver and unplugged the cord from the outlet. I had the feeling I would be receiving more of these phone calls.

It's not that I don't _like_ Sharpay Evans, it's just that I don't think she likes me all that much, and I can't help but remember that I know her from somewhere. Like I knew her a few years back, but that couldn't be right...could it? I mean, we're practically enemies from her point of view, how could I have known her?

My mom knocked on my bedroom door and let herself in. I was still standing by the phone.

"Hey, honey," she greeted, "who was that on the phone just now."

I shrugged and shook my head. I quickly changed the topic. "Mom, do you know anyone named Sharpay Evans."

"Sharpay?" Mom asked, contemplating the subject. "I know the name Evans well enough. Sharpay I'm not so sure. The name _does_ sound familiar, however, but I'm not sure where I've heard it."

She paused and then continued, "Oh yes, I remember her. Come with me."

I followed her out of my room. Mom led me down the hall to the laundry room where she pulled on a string that dangled down from the ceiling. A fold-out staircase appeared from the ceiling, leading up to the attic. I followed her up the creaky stairs and into the darkness above.

Mom picked up a blue tub marked "Photo Albums - Gabriella Age 0 - 5" and lifted the lid. She rummaged through the multicolored albums until she arrived at a white one covered in flower stickers that looked like a two-year-old randomly stuck them on. Mom patted the floor next to her and opened the photo album. I hurriedly flopped down on the floor and looked at the crammed photo album. The first few pictures were of two tiny babies lying side by side and looking happily up at the camera. One light-headed girl and one dark-headed girl.

Sharpay and me.

I gasped as Mom continued to flip the pages. Almost all of them were of me, Sharpay, and an occasional blond boy, who I later remembered his name to be Ryan. Me and Sharpay in the kiddie pool waving and smiling at the camera, first day of preschool, the beach, matching outfits on our first Christmas. I closed the album and looked over at Mom.

"You two were really close when you were younger," Mom said. "I'm not sure why you two grew so distant. You were the cutest little things when you got together."

"Yeah," I said quietly, thinking about the pictures. "I'm not sure either."

"I wonder what's become of the Evans kids," Mom continued.

"I think I have an idea," I said.

I hurriedly stood up, taking the photo album with me, and climbed down the wooden staircase without even pausing to see my mom's reaction to my sudden response.

I ran all the way back down the hall to my room and shut the door behind me, turning the lock as I did so. I had no idea that Sharpay and I were so close, I mean, who would have thought? The popular blond and the brainy brunette. Even I wouldn't have put the two together. It's just not the way it was supposed to go down. I thought for a moment and plugged the phone cord back into the outlet. I picked up the cordless phone and walked to my closet. I opened the door and stepped inside, closing the door so only a sliver of light shone through to the darkness. I made my way to the very back left corner where I had made myself a secret hideaway not visible to the naked eye if you were in the closet. I was completely surrounded by hanging clothes and tubs of other things.

I hit the pink touch light that I had put on the wall and went through the phone's caller ID. The same number appeared three times with the name U.S. Cellular. I figured it must be Sharpay. I pressed the talk button and let it ring a few times.

"What do you want?" came a sharp high-pitched voice from the other end.

Sharpay must have recognized the number to be mine.

"Sharpay?"

"Yeah," she snapped. "And I repeat my question, _what do you want_?"

"Just hear me out," I said.

There was silence, as if Sharpay wanted to hear what I had to say to her. I continued after taking a deep breath.

"Okay, back when we were little—"

"How little," Sharpay cut me off, her voice dropping down a town.

"Infant little up til about five years old."

Silence.

"Well, you do remember that we were...lack of a better word..._friends_...back then."

"Yeah," Sharpay said, her voice calming down but still accompanied with the edgy stinginess. "What of it?"

I didn't exactly have an answer to that question for this wasn't the reaction I was hoping for.

"Well," I said spontaneously, "I was wondering if we could be..friends...again, sort of."

"What?" Sharpay squealed.

"I was just hoping that—" I tried to reason.

"I don't care what you were hoping for!" Sharpay cut me off again. "All I know is that if you thought this would help your social status one bit, you are completely wrong."

And with that she hung up the phone. I was in complete disbelief. I don't know if I'm just paranoid, but I think I just made my relationship with Sharpay even worse.

I set the phone on the floor next to me and leaned my head against the wall. I was _not_ under any circumstances ready to appear at school tomorrow. The thought of running into Sharpay was frightening to me. I sighed and closed my eyes, wishing the day would never end.

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	6. The Insult That Tops Them All

_**Chapter 6**_

I slowly shut the front door behind me as I left the house early the next morning. I wanted to get to school as early as possible, but I wasn't completely sure why. It's not like it would save me any time away from Sharpay since she was always there early anyway for drama rehearsal. I guess hoping I won't run into her won't make the whole situation disappear. I guess that plan failed.

I stepped lightly down the cobblestone pathway leading away from my house and onto the freshly paved sidewalk. I began the walk to East High thinking only about three things: Sharpay and what she would say, Troy, and Taylor's reaction to the phone call and the strange coincidence that Sharpay and I were best friends back when we were kids.

"Hey!" shouted a familiar voice from behind me. "Wait up!"

I turned around to find Troy jogging towards me. I stopped and smiled as he arrived out of breath and overheated.

"Hey," I said, forgetting all about my worries and Sharpay's threat. "What's up?"

"Oh nothin' really," Troy replied. "I have to get to school early and talk to Mrs. Andrews about the quiz we took yesterday. As it turns out, I didn't do so hot."

I giggled at his serene honesty. It seemed like he didn't want to keep any secrets from me. I was grateful. We started to walk in the direction of school once more.

"Musical auditions are today," I announced, changing the subject from Troy's unfortunate quiz grade.

"Yeah, they are," Troy said uncertainly. "You gonna audition?"

"I don't know," I said. "I was thinking about it. I mean, it's not something I do for real, but it's just a hobby I've picked up over the last couple years."

"Really?" Troy asked.

I nodded.

"Well," he said, "I've never really actually sung as 'career', but I did do karaoke with this girl at a ski lodge in Colorado on New Year's Eve."

"Which ski lodge?" I asked inquiringly. "'Cause I was at one in Colorado on New Year's Eve too."

"Oh, uh, the Breckenridge Ski Resort," Troy answered.

"Really? Me too!" I said. "I can't believe I didn't see you there. Were you at the young adult's party?"

Troy nodded.

"So was I! I just can't believe I didn't see, well hear, you do the karaoke. I guess I was too caught up in my book to even notice anything or anyone else around me."

"That is so weird," Troy said. "If I had known you were there and I had known who you were I totally would have looked for you, because I had no idea who anyone was at that party."

"Me too," I said.

The two of us arrived at East High and walked in together. There were already students there that were chatting and catching up from the previous day. Troy and I walked up the stairs that led to the second floor. Troy went off to Mrs. Andrews's room while I went to my locker. I promised I would wait outside Mrs. Andrews's room until he was finished.

Troy was finished with his conversation before I even left my locker. He came up to me and smiled a successful smile.

"Hey, how'd it go. You weren't in there very long," I questioned.

"Oh, it went fine," Troy said. "She gave me some extra credit that I could do, but it's due tomorrow. And I don't even understand it."

I took the extra credit assignment out of his hands.

"Oh, that's simple," I said to him. "You take the absolute value of this number over twelve, multiply it by the quotient of this and —"

I stopped and looked up.

"I lost you didn't I?"

"At the word simple," Troy laughed.

"Ha, ha, very funny," I laughed back. "Okay, here's how it works, don't make fun of me unless you don't want me to give you some private tutoring."

Troy's eyes lit up.

"Private tutoring?"

"Sure, why not. It seems like you could use the help with this type of thing," I said.

"You're hilarious," Troy said.

"I know," I giggled. "So, where and when?"

"9137 East Maple Road. Uh... right after school?" Troy suggested.

"East Maple?" I repeated. "That's the road I live on, but with different numbers obviously. Uh, sure, that works. Meet you out by the fountain?"

"Sure," Troy said. "It's a date?"

A date? I looked at him and smiled.

"It's a date," I repeated, still smiling. "Don't forget."

"Oh, don't worry about that," Troy said. "I would never surpass an opportunity such as this. Being tutored by Miss Brainiac herself, Gabriella Montez."

I giggled.

"And I would never surpass the opportunity tutoring Mr. Basketball Boy himself, Troy Bolton," I said, attempting my best at a comeback. Troy seemed impressed.

Troy looked at the clock.

"Twenty minutes 'til homeroom," he announced. "Shall we?"

"We shall," I responded.

We walked into homeroom together, despite the fact that we were being watched by two intimidating light brown eyes.

I was shocked to see that Taylor was not yet in here usual seat in homeroom.

'Where could she be?' I thought to myself. 'You'd think she'd be here by now.'

I set my backpack on the floor next to the desk I had sat in for two days straight and watched Troy set his backpack in the desk directly in front of mine.

"You don't mind if I sit here do you?" he asked respectfully.

"No, not at all," I said, smiling.

I then heard the clicking of heels and I knew what was coming. I looked up at the opened door and there stood Sharpay with her hands on her hips and the most evil glare I had ever had the misfortune to see. I frightfully gasped and bit my lip. Troy looked at me suspiciously and noticed Sharpay hurrying over to the two of us. She grabbed my arm and pulled me out of the room. Troy's jaw dropped and he followed Sharpay and me out of the room. Sharpay had such a grip, I felt the circulation being cut off from my wrist. She dragged me into the nearest bathroom and began to yell.

"I _thought_ I told you stay away from him!!" she fumed.

I backed up a few steps in her anger.

"You don't know what you're talking about!" I yelled back, surprising even myself that my voice could stretch that loud. "It's not like you own him!!"

Sharpay was taken aback by my outburst. However, it didn't stop her.

"Just because I don't have complete control over him doesn't give some Spanish trash like you the right to!!" Sharpay shouted.

My jaw dropped as I felt my eyes swell with stinging hot tears. No one, and I repeat, no one has ever insulted me because of my background. Tears began run down my cheeks. By instinct, I did what any other girl would have done in my place. I slapped her as hard as I could across the cheek and ran.

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please review! 


	7. Confessions

_**Chapter 7**_

Sharpay stood there, dumbfounded, as she touched the stinging part of her cheek that had been slapped. She had done it. She had finally sunk lower than anyone had before. Not even the worst bullies had even gone as far as insulting someone because of their heritage. A single tear slid down Sharpay's cheek. She felt the strong urge to burst out in tears, not because of being slapped, but because of pushing away the one person who had truly accepted her as a friend and not because she was afraid of her.

Tears were soon unleashed and she didn't care that her mascara was now running down with it, she didn't care if someone walked in and laughed at her or teased her because of it. She didn't care. That was it. She didn't care. Still sobbing, she walked forward to the wall and turned her back to it, leaning up against it. Sharpay slid down the wall and soon met up with the floor.

A soft, caring voice spoke out to her from the entrance of the restroom.

"Sharpay?"

Sharpay looked up and saw Kelsi Nielsen peek out from the entryway. Normally, Sharpay would have told her off or said something mean, but it wasn't in her heart.

"Are you okay?" Kelsi said quietly, stepping lightly toward the sobbing girl on the bathroom floor. "I heard shouting and then I saw...Gabriella I think her name is...run out, so then I came to see what all the fuss was about."

Sharpay shook her head, tears still freely running down her cheeks.

"Nothing's okay," Sharpay squeaked through the tears. "Nothing has ever been okay. Ever since first grade nothing's been okay."

"Tell me," Kelsi said cautiously as she took a seat next to Sharpay.

Sharpay opened her heart to her mousy drama companion. She told Kelsi how she and Gabriella used to be best friends, how they did everything together when they were little, and how the one stupid fight broke their strong bond and how they hadn't spoken since.

"I wanted to forget about her, Kelsi," Sharpay continued. "But I can't. Gabriella was my best friend...and I let her go. It's because of me that we're not friends anymore. I didn't want to admit it, but I know it's the truth."

Kelsi was silent, she didn't know what to say or how to respond to such a story. She stood up and took some paper towels from the dispenser and handed them to Sharpay. Sharpay sighed the shaky sigh that always came after crying.

"Are you okay now?" Kelsi asked, touching Sharpay's arm in a friendly, understanding manner.

Sharpay nodded and smiled at the other friend she had constantly pushed away.

"Thanks, Kelsi," she said.

"For what?"

"For being there for me, always," Sharpay said softly.

"No problem," Kelsi smiled back. "What are friends for right?"

Sharpay nodded and stood up. Kelsi followed suit. Sharpay looked at herself in the mirror. She was a disgrace.

"Want me to stay with you for a while?" Kelsi asked.

"No, I'll be okay," Sharpay sighed.

"Okay," Kelsi replied. "But cheer up, I don't need you being a sourpuss for the musical auditions in a couple hours."

Sharpay smiled at the thought of her and Ryan blowing away the crowd with their rehearsed performance of 'What I've Been Lookin' For'. The warning bell sounded and Kelsi looked up in surprise.

"Well, I guess I'd better get to class," Kelsi announced. "I can't be late again or else my mom will kill me. See ya at the auditions, Sharpay."

"Bye," Sharpay replied, smiling as the loyal girl left her presence. "And thanks again."

Kelsi stopped and turned back around. She nodded and left.

_**Meanwhile...**_

I didn't care where I was going. All I wanted was to get away from the evil demon that I thought could ever be my friend. I pushed past Troy and almost knocked him over with a force I didn't even know I had.

"Gabriella!" he called after me.

I heard him running to catch up with me, pushing students out of the way as he did so. I hurried down the stairs and finally reached the other end of the school. I pushed open the glass door leading to the outside world. Freedom. My breathing became uneasy and I had to stop. I spotted a bench underneath a sycamore tree that was uninhabited. I jogged to it and sat down, crying like I've never cried before.

I looked up through my blurred vision and saw Troy helplessly looking for me.

"Gabriella!" he called again.

He spotted me underneath the sycamore and mercilessly ran to me, taking a seat beside me on the bench.

"Gabriella," he said breathlessly, "what happened in there. I heard shouting and I didn't know what to do. I didn't know what was happening. And then you came out crying. I—"

I cut him off.

"Troy," I said in between sobs. "It's Sharpay. She...she...—"

I didn't have the heart or the breath to say what she did.

"What? What'd she do?" Troy asked, obviously concerned.

"She...insulted me...'cause of my...background...called me...S-Spanish...trash," I said, out of breath and still crying.

It was a miracle Troy even understood what I said my voice was so shaky.

"Why would she do that?" he asked no one in particular. "What would make her say something like that?"

"You," I managed to say.

Troy looked taken aback.

"She didn't want me talking to you. She said if I ever got near you again, she would...well..I don't know, but I knew it wasn't good," I did my best to explain. "She likes you, Troy. Anyone can see that. You might as well go after her since I don't have a chance with you."

I stood up and swiftly walked away.

"No, Gabriella," Troy said in rebuttal. "That-that's not it at all. I don't want her. I want...I...I want you, Gabriella. You."

I stopped in my tracks and slowly turned around. Troy was feet away from me and yet I could feel his pain that I had inflicted upon him because of my words.

"What?" I asked, not fully comprehending what he had just confessed.

"You," Troy said again.

He came closer.

"What?" I repeated. "How could you...I mean...I know nothing about you...and you know nothing about me. I don't see how you could..."

"I don't see how I could either," Troy laughed. "But I do."

"Troy, I don't know," I said. "This is all too much right now. First Sharpay and what she said to me and now you and what _you're_ saying to me. I just don't know right now."

I flinched as the warning bell sounded.

"I have to go, Troy," I said. "I'm sorry, we'll talk...we'll talk later. Not right now."

And with that I turned around and slowly walked back the way I came.

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review please 


	8. Notes

hey, hey, hey, it's me again. i was suddenly hit with an idea for ch 8 and here it is! it's longer than the others, so enjoy!**_

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**_Chapter 8_**

I felt the sudden sickening pang of guilt as I walked away from Troy. I knew I had done the right thing by saying no, but was it? Was it really? I mean, Sharpay just insulted me for Pete's sake! What else could I have done? I didn't dare look back at Troy. I knew his hurt and devastated look would kill me on the inside.

I was walking so slowly back to homeroom, that I was surprised I even made it on time. Mrs. Darbus didn't even say anything when I came in looking the way I did. I noticed Taylor was sitting in her usual seat beside me, scribbling away in her notebook. She looked up and waved, but instantly converted her expression to concerned and confused.

"What's wrong, Gab?" she asked as I sat down next to her. "Why are you crying? What happened?"

She patted my arm and sincerely looked like she wanted to know what was wrong. I quickly glanced around the room. Troy and Sharpay were nowhere in sight. I looked back at her and told my story. I didn't leave a single part out. However, I didn't tell her about the fact that Sharpay and I used to be friends. That would be too much at one time.

"Oh my gosh, Gabriella," Taylor said. "I can't believe Sharpay would do that! Even I know that she wouldn't sink that low! What made her do that, I wonder?"

"I don't know, Taylor," I said quietly. "All I know is that I never want to see or speak to her again."

"You know that's not the way to go," Taylor said in a tone too similar to that of my mother. "You can't run from your problems, no matter how hard you try. They won't go away if you merely wish they will. You have to confront them head-on."

"I know you're right," I told her. "It's just..hard."

Taylor nodded in understanding. She smiled and patted my arm once more. "It's okay."

At that moment, a flustered, but calm Sharpay stormed into the room.

"Miss Evans!" Mrs. Darbus said. "Nice of you to join us! However, I expect better conduct from my angels in the theater. You know that."

"Yes, Mrs. Darbus," Sharpay said. "Sorry."

"Sorry, doesn't cut it this time, Sharpay," Mrs. Darbus continued. "I know you were here early and whatever excuse you cleverly come up with will not suffice for your being tardy."

"Yes, Mrs. Darbus," Sharpay repeated, feeling the heat of embarrassment creep up into her cheeks. She hated being told off by Mrs. Darbus, especially since she and everyone else knew that she was Mrs. Darbus's favorite student aside from Ryan.

"I will expect you in detention after school today," Mrs. Darbus said harshly. "Don't be late, or you will be in even more trouble."

Sharpay closed her eyes in defeat and hung her head. She looked back up.

"Yes, Mrs. Darbus," Sharpay said on the verge of tears once more.

"Now, take a seat Miss Evans," Mrs. Darbus instructed.

Sharpay nodded and looked around the room and at the judgmental eyes that followed her every move. The only open seat besides the one Troy's belongings were in was behind me. I noticed this and looked straight at Sharpay, hoping she would get the message that I didn't want her to sit behind me.

"Well, what are you waiting for?" Mrs. Darbus snapped, getting angrier by the second. "I told you to _take a seat_."

Sharpay looked fearfully from Mrs. Darbus to me. She sighed and walked cautiously over to where I was sitting and sat behind me. I ignored her completely. I felt a slight tap on my shoulder as Mrs. Darbus continued to talk. I didn't turn around. Sharpay tapped me again. I turned around in my seat and glared at her. She handed me a folded pink piece of paper with purple lining.

A note.

She looked at me with 'I'm sorry' written all over her tear-stained face. My glare softened and I took the note from her, sticking it in my pocket to read when Mrs. Darbus wasn't so edgy.

Taylor and I hurried out of homeroom as the bell sounded. Taylor had seen Sharpay give me the note and was as anxious as I was to read it. We arrived in the safety of the geometry room and took our seats. I set my backpack on the floor and took the note out of my pocket. I hastily unfolded it and began to read the neat scrawl of Sharpay with Taylor reading it over my shoulder.

_Gabriella,_

_You don't even know how sorry I am for insulting you that way. I don't know what made me do it. I guess I just didn't want to believe that you and I used to be friends. I mean, we're so different, but I suppose that's why you and I got along so well back when we were little. I remember you always used to tell me that even if we fought and disagreed (this was probably in simpler terms since we were only about three years old at the time) we would always be friends and we wouldn't go our separate ways. I don't know what happened to our friendship, but I hope we can start fresh and become friends again. We had so much fun. Listen, I'm sorry again, and I'll do anything to make it up to you. I hope you can forget about this and accept my apology._

_Sorry again,_

_Sharpay Evans_

_P.S: I never intended to take Troy from you. I was just so jealous because you're new here and you've already gotten what I've been trying to get for that past ten years. Anyway, I better end this or I'll be late for homeroom. Talk to you later. _☺

I looked up from the note and at Taylor, who's expression was blank.

"You and her used to be friends?" she asked in disbelief.

I nodded, carefully folding the note.

"Back when we were about little," I answered. "Our parents met at the hospital in Santa Fe. See, when Sharpay was born, she had lung trouble so she had already been in there for two weeks, and then I was born and our parents met and clicked. Then our parents found out that we lived in the same neighborhood. Sharpay and I were inseparable until we reached Kindergarten, when I guess something happened and we didn't talk to each other all the way through fourth grade when my mom's job transferred her to Salt Lake City. Then we got transferred back to New Mexico, here to Albuquerque."

"Wow," Taylor said after I was finished. "It's hard to believe that Sharpay would even want to have a friend. She's always seemed so independent. Like she didn't even need Ryan, who's _always_ been by her side. I don't know. It's weird, I guess."

"Yeah, it is," I said. "Do you think I should reply back to her?"

"Totally!" Taylor replied without hesitation. "You could be the angel that's come to lift the curse that Sharpay has set on everyone."

"What do you mean?" I asked.

"I mean, that you could finally be the one to turn her nice," Taylor said. "Maybe that's why she's been so mean to everyone. She's been mean since...Kindergarten."

"You're saying that because of our fight, she turned against everyone else," I said, fitting the pieces of what Taylor was saying together.

Taylor nodded and smiled. I smiled back and took out a sheet of looseleaf notebook paper.

_Dear Sharpay,_

I stopped and looked at Taylor.

"What do I say?" I asked earnestly.

"First of all," Taylor said. "Get rid of the 'dear'. It's too formal."

I erased what I had written and listened to Taylor once more.

"I don't know what you should say," Taylor said. "It's Sharpay. What is there to say?"

I laughed at her comment and started over on my note.

_Sharpay,_

_I really don't know how to express in words how your apology affected the situation. I'm really touched that you would write me that! I do remember telling you that, and I quote, "through anything, Shar, we'll always be best buddies" end quote. I remember us hugging after I said that. How naive the child's mind is. I will take you up on your offer to be friends again, but only on one condition: that we actually sit down to talk instead of writing notes to each other. Sound good? Well, first period is starting so I should better wrap this up. I will definitely talk to you later._

_Hopefully your friend,_

_Gabriella Montez_

I looked down at my finished work and handed it to Taylor to proofread. She nodded after she was finished.

"You'll be friends in no time," Taylor smiled.

She seemed happy that Sharpay's reign as Ice Princess was finally coming to an end. I was just looking for Sharpay as a friend again.

I folded up the note and stuck it in my pocket for safety. Mrs. Andrews got the class's attention and began the lesson. During this, I couldn't help but notice that Troy was nowhere to be seen.

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all right, done w/ ch 8. r sharpay and gabriella going to become friends once again? where is troy? even i don't know yet. i have an idea but i could always use some from the people. u no what to do! review and i will tellcontinue today! 


	9. True Feelings

_**Chapter 9**_

The first thought that entered my already jam-packed mind was of course if Troy was all right. I didn't mean for my words to actually penetrate him that hard! What if he took what I said the wrong way, that I actually didn't want to be with him? Because that's not true. I know it's not true. I momentarily panicked, but then raised my hand just as Mrs. Andrews was beginning to start the lesson.

"Yes, Miss Montez?"

"May I please use the restroom?" I hopefully asked.

I _had_ to find Troy. It wasn't even a question. Mrs. Andrews looked at me, considering the negative answer.

"Oh, all right," she said, "but hurry back. I don't want you missing out on today's lesson. I must say it's rather confusing and difficult to understand."

A chorus of groans echoed throughout the classroom. I smiled thankfully and hurried out of the classroom.

I stopped as I reached the center of the hallway. Where would I even begin to look? I noticed an isolated staircase near the end of the long hallway. If Troy was really upset, he wouldn't be in the most obvious place.

I hurried to it and slowly started to climb it. I noticed that the stairwell led outside, up on the roof. The soft New Mexico breeze was slightly stirring, setting a calm mood up on the rooftop. I noticed Troy leaning on the railing and looking out at the view of the mountains in the distance.

I didn't know how to greet him. What would I say? What _could_ I say? I even regretted coming up here and finding him so solemn and depressed. I turned to go back down the stairs and leave him be, but he turned around and looked at me. We were silent. Neither of us said a word. I opened my mouth to break the silence, but he beat me to it.

"Hey," he said quietly, turning back around and leaning on the railing once more.

I walked over to where he was standing and leaned on the railing also.

"Troy," I began, looking at him.

He didn't return my gaze. I continued.

"I'm sorry if you took what I said the wrong way. I didn't mean to hurt your feelings," I said. I added, "If I did, I mean."

Troy finally looked in my direction. I could see the sorrow in his bright blue eyes.

"It's now what you said," he replied, turning away again. "I understand that it was all to much too soon. I just can't believe you thought I would choose Sharpay over you. I mean, she's nice to me and everything, I just don't see myself with her in that way, though."

I was taken aback at his response.

"Really?" was all I could say.

Troy nodded, his gaze once again fixed upon me. There was another temporary silence between us.

"I really do like you, Gabriella," Troy finally admitted.

The way he said my name sent my heart to heaven. A warm chill rushed down my spine as I felt the same emotion towards him.

"I like you too," I managed to say, a smile creeping up on my face.

I could feel myself beginning to blush.

"A lot," I added spontaneously.

At this Troy looked directly into my eyes. My heart skipped a beat as I gazed lovingly into his. I never wanted this moment to end. I could sense that he felt the exact same way.

"Hey, uh," Troy said, clearing his throat, "shouldn't you, uh, be in class?"

I knew that comment was coming, but yet I didn't expect it coming so soon. I had at least been gone for a good ten minutes.

"Oh, uh, right," I said, breaking our fixed, sentimental gaze. "So, I guess I'll see you l-later?"

I knew Troy hated the sound of my words.

"Out by the fountain," he concluded.

With a smile, I left his comforting presence and hurried down the stairs. I felt his eyes follow me as I exited, not missing one of my steps.

I hurried as fast as I could back to the room with my newfound energy. I calmed down before I opened the door. I must not have been gone that long for Mrs. Andrews didn't even criticize me for being gone longer than expected. I hurriedly took my seat despite all of the stares I received from my fellow students.

Taylor was smirking at me. I had the expression that was always present after being smitten with the love syndrome. She didn't have any time to inquire of the situation because Mrs. Andrews immediately began the lesson as I took my seat.

After the bell sounded, Taylor rushed me out of the classroom.

"So!" she said excitedly, leading the way to our lockers which were near each other (Because of our last names: McKessie and Montez). "What happened? And don't you dare tell me nothing did because I can tell by your smug expression!"

Taylor was smiling profusely, absent-mindedly stuffing books in her locker. I didn't even hesitate as I began my story.

"And so now," I concluded after I had listed all the details, "I think we might actually be... _something_."

Taylor squealed with delight.

"Oh my gosh, Gabriella!" she said happily. "That is so great! Ugh, I am so jealous of you."

I looked at her funny.

"No, not because of Troy," Taylor cleared up. "Because you have, er, well, almost have, a boyfriend!"

I smiled at the thought. I could actually be the next Mrs. Bolton.

'Oookay, don't get ahead of yourself, Gabriella,' I thought to myself. 'You two aren't even a couple yet. Don't go on fantasizing about something that may not even happen.'

"Well, we can't dwell on the subject for long until you actually know for _sure_ that you're together," Taylor concluded. "So, where are you headed for free period?"

I thought about this for a moment. I wasn't exactly sure, so I announced the first idea that popped into my head.

"The auditorium," I answered.

"What, for musical auditions?" Taylor inquired.

I nodded.

"Oh," Taylor went on, "well, I'm off to the library to catch up with some of my Scholastic Decathlon team members. We have our next competition next week. Oh! Which reminds me, since you seem so in tune with your academic side, I want you to know that there is definitely a spot for you. We meet almost everyday after school."

"Well, I don't know," I said. "I mean, I've never thought about joining something like that."

"Come on, Gabriella, please?" Taylor pleaded.

I smiled at her puppy-dog pout.

"Okay, I'm in," I said.

Taylor smiled.

"Great," she said. "We're meeting tomorrow after school in Chemistry Lab B at 3:45. Don't forget."

I nodded. We said our goodbyes and went our separate ways, Taylor to the library, and me to the auditorium.

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please review 


	10. The Musical Auditions

sorry i haven't updated in a little bit, i've had a lot of homework and this was at the bottom of my high-pri list. well, here's chapter 10! read and enjoy!**_

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**_Chapter 10_**

I hurried through the sea of high schoolers, eager to get to the auditorium. I had no idea why I was so anxious though. I hurriedly went through the song I was supposed to sing in my head. Mrs. Darbus had given the entire class the music for the song, even though practically everyone threw it away. I however, kept mine.

I reached the auditorium, only to find that Mrs. Darbus and the hopeful contestants were already there and seated. I wasn't even sure if I wanted to try out, so I took a seat in the very back row. As I took my seat, I immediately stood back up, because in the seat that I had chosen, sat a very shocked and confused Troy.

"Oh my gosh! I am so sorry," I pleaded. "I didn't see you there."

"No, it's all right," Troy said, sitting up straight. "It happens a lot, actually. So, uh, what are you doing here?"

"I was about to ask you the same thing," I returned. "I thought basketball was your thing."

Troy shrugged and glanced at the stage where a tall boy wearing a brown suit was doing terrible on his audition.

"_It's hard to believe, that I couldn't sneeze...see. That you were always right there next to beside me._"

Mrs. Darbus performed her usual constructive criticism.

"Ah yes, Allen, as to your singing...that's a wonderful tie you're wearing. Next!"

Allen sadly turned and walked off the stage.

"I'm not exactly sure what I'm doing here," Troy said, laughing at the most recent audition. "After that, I'm not sure I'm up to it."

"What? The basketball superstar is..afraid?" I asked, obviously shocked.

"Not afraid...just...scared," Troy said slowly.

"Me too, usually," I said.

"And for the lead roles of Minnie and Arnold, we only have one couple signed up," Mrs. Darbus announced. "Sharpay and Ryan. Hopefully you two can show us why we gather in this hallowed hall."

Sharpay and Ryan stood up in there seats and walked through the aisle and up on stage, where the curtains were lowered.

Troy looked at me with a goofy expression on his face. I giggled and returned my attention to the stage, where music had started and two pairs of hands were snapping along to the beat through the red curtain. Troy stifled a laugh. The curtain opened, and Ryan began the up-beat version of the song.

_It's hard to believe, that I couldn't see._

Sharpay took her stance and joined in on a higher range.

_You were always there beside me._

_Thought I was alone, with no one to hold._

_But you were always right beside me._

Stepping out in front of Ryan with her hand out and the other wrapped around the microphone, she smiled and sang her solo.

_This feeling's like no other._

The pair was now singing together again. Troy was staring at them with widened eyes.

_I want you to know..._

_I've never had someone, that knows me like you do,_

_the way you do._

_And I've never had someone, as good for me as you._

_No one like you._

_So lonely before,_

_I've finally found,_

_what I've been lookin' for._

At this last note, Sharpay handed Ryan her microphone and began to tap-dance on the instrumental part, smiling as she did so. She was handed back her microphone and began a second solo.

_So good to be seen_

_So good to be heard_

Ryan joined in, pretending to button his lips with his hand.

_Don't have to say a word..._

Ryan gleefully began his second solo.

_For so long I was so lost_

_So good to be found_

_I'm lovin —_

At this part, Sharpay joined in and it was a two-part harmony.

— _havin' you around._

_I've never had someone_

_that knows me like you do,_

_The way you do!_

_And I've never had someone_

_as good for me as you._

_No one like you._

_So lonely before_

_I've finally found..._

_What I've been lookin' for._

The duo began a side-to-side skip, each holding on to the other's microphone to keep their balance.

_Do-do-do-do_

_Do-do-do-do-do-do_

_Who-o-o-oo_

_Do-do-do-do_

_Do-do-do-do-do-do_

_Who-o-o-oo_

They ended the song with a rehearsed pose. The crowd burst out in a standing ovation. I looked over at Troy who was completely blown away by their performance.

"Well then," he said, "you don't see that every day."

I laughed at his comical comment.

Mrs. Darbus stood up and turned around to face the audience. They had all begun to leave the auditorium.

"Are there any last minute sign-ups?" She paused. "No...good...done."

She turned off the light on her desk and sauntered down the aisle in the direction of Troy and me. I thought for a moment and stood up.

"I'd like to audition, Mrs. Darbus!" I said energetically.

Troy looked at me like I was out of my mind.

"Time limit means something in the world of theater, young lady," Mrs. Darbus said, looking at me.

"Solo auditions are long, long over, and there are simply no other pairs."

"I'll sing with her," a voice announced from behind me.

Troy had stood up and was slightly raising his hand. I turned around and smiled.

"Troy Bolton..." Mrs. Darbus said, impressed. "Where is your...sport's posse, or whatever it's called."

"Team," Troy corrected.

"Ah," Mrs. Darbus said.

"She has an amazing voice," Troy said.

"I call for last minute auditions, and you didn't respond. Free period is now over," Mrs. Darbus said. She looked at us sternly over her glasses and walked past us. I looked up and saw the composer, Kelsi Nielsen gathering up her music. She accidentally tripped on the leg of the piano, and her music scattered all over the floor.

Troy and I rushed up the steps to the stage and dropped down on our knees to help pick up the fallen papers.

"So you're a composer," Troy said, trying to make conversation with the shy composer. "You wrote the song Ryan and Sharpay just sang? And the whole show?"

Kelsi merely nodded. Troy Bolton, _the_ Troy Bolton was speaking to her.

"Well, that's really cool," Troy said, offering Kelsi his hand to help her up. "I can't wait to here the rest of the show."

Kelsi smiled as Troy and I handed her the music we had picked up.

"So you really like the song?" Kelsi inquired.

Troy and I nodded.

"Well, Sharpay and Ryan, they kind of messed it up," Kelsi told us. "Do you want to hear how the duet's supposed to sound?"

She led us over to the piano and took her seat. She played the soft, slow notes on the piano. After several measures, Troy began to sing.

I couldn't help but notice how smooth and soft his voice was. It was so crisp and whimsical. I had never heard anything like it. It was all of a sudden my turn to sing, and I was almost certain that he had the same idea of my voice.

We finished the song and stood in silence for a few seconds.

"Wow, that's nice," Troy said softly.

Kelsi smiled.

"Bolton, Montez, you have a callback," came the booming voice of Mrs. Darbus. "Kelsi, give them the duet from the second act. Work on it with them."

I looked over at Mrs. Darbus. I noticed her smile. Kelsi handed us the music and began listing the times that she was available to rehearse. Troy was standing there, dumbfounded. He flipped through the music with a confused look on his face.

He looked back at me and noticed I was smiling. For some reason, that made him smile too.

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yeah, i know that the ending was almost exactly like the movie, but it just fit, so i put it in there. the rest of the story won't be taken directly from the movie except for a few lines here and there. okay - u no what to do! review please! the faster you review...the faster i update! (well, at least that's what everyone says)


	11. Chad's Reaction

_**Chapter 11**_

Troy and I walked out of the auditorium together, chatting mercilessly about the upcoming callbacks next Thursday. Troy wasn't even slightly put out of place when he noticed all of the different students whispering and staring at the two of us walking down the hall together. However, Troy's joyful smile, I noticed, was soon swiped with a frown as he noticed Chad, Zeke, Jason, and a few other members of the basketball team heading their way.

"Oh no," he said, turning to walk down an adjoining hallway.

"What? What's the matter?" I asked him in a rush as he hurried us down the hallway.

Troy looked at me with an expression that clearly told me he wasn't about to say it.

"Oh," I said, breaking out into a smile. He was obviously turned off by this and looked at me confusedly. "Your friends don't know about the whole singing thing yet, do they."

Troy hung his head in shame and nodded.

"You know," I pointed out, "you're going to have to tell them someday. Like once you're one of the stars of the next musical."

"I know," Troy responded, "but I don't want them to treat me different, like I don't want them to think basketball isn't my thing anymore, because it still is. But I really want to do the musical with you, Gabriella."

I smiled.

"So when are you going to tell them?" I asked him.

Troy smiled and looked over my shoulder: Chad and the others were heading down that hall. Troy quickly turned around before they could see him. He found the handle of a classroom door a few steps behind him and hurried us into the safety of the room.

"Not right now," he said.

"Apparently," I giggled.

I gasped as I heard the door handle begin to turn. Out of instinct, I hurried to the classroom's closet which thankfully was only a few feet away and shut myself inside just as Chad and his friends entered the classroom.

"Troy?" Chad asked. "I thought I saw you come in here. Wait. What _are_ you doing in here."

"Uh," Troy replied, searching quickly for an excuse, "just wanted to get a little extra practice for chemistry you know."

"But, Troy," Jason said, "this is one of the history classrooms."

Troy looked around to find history maps on the walls, a world globe here and there, and several historical artifacts lounging around the room.

"Right," Troy said, obviously embarrassed.

"Uh, Troy," Chad said, worried, "are you okay."

"Yeah, yeah, I'm fine, I just, I'm just not all together right now," Troy replied.

"Yeah, I can see that," Chad said. "We missed you during free period workout just now. Where were you?"

"Me? Where was I?" Troy asked.

Chad nodded, slightly afraid of his friend at the moment.

"I was uh, I...was," Troy trailed off.

I took a deep breath and opened the closet door, sticking my head from behind it. Chad and the others slightly flinched and swiftly turned their heads in my direction. Zeke's eyes widened and was lost for words, as were the other seven boys.

"Dude," he said, coming up closer and talking softly. "You had a girl in here?!"

"What? What, no," Troy said, looking at me with pleading eyes. "It's not what it looks like. I swear. T-tell them, Gabriella."

I looked at him and then at the boys who still didn't believe Troy.

"Well," I began, clearing my throat, "Troy needed some help in the history department and I offered to tutor him just a little so he would understand it better. Then he saw you guys coming and obviously didn't want to be seen being tutored so that's why I was in the closet. And uh, here we are now."

I finished innocently, my voice as truthful as it could have ever been in this type of situation. It obviously had an effect on the boys because they seemed to understand.

"Oh, okay, dude," Chad said. "That makes much more sense. But tell us next time when you're not going to be at free period workout. Okay?"

"Yeah," Troy said.

"Wait a second," Chad said, rushing forward and snatching the music from Troy's hand.

Troy's eyes widened as Chad flipped through the pages.

"What the heck is this?" he asked, waving it in the air.

The other boys hurried up behind him and each had a look at the papers. I stepped forward, but didn't get too close. This would become a bit more interesting.

Troy was speechless. He opened his mouth to speak but then closed it again, lost for words.

"I, uh..we—I, um..." he trailed off again.

"Troy," Chad said, his voice becoming more serious and sincere, "listen to me. We've been best friends since Pre-K right?"

Troy nodded.

"And we promised to always say what was up right?"

Troy repeated his gesture.

"So," Chad said, handing Troy back the music and becoming slightly calmer, "what is this?"

Troy opened his mouth but closed it and glanced helplessly in my direction. I nodded. He took a deep breath.

"All right, a-all right," Troy said, dropping the music onto the nearest desk. "Instead of coming to free period work-out, I...I went to the auditorium for the musical auditions with Gabriella" — he motioned to me — "and we got a callback after we auditioned...which means...which means I could...possibly be in the...in the winter musical."

Troy looked down at the floor, but couldn't resist looking up to see Chad's reaction, as well as the rest of his friends.

"Wait," Chad said, starting to laugh. "You're joking right. I mean, you can't be serious."

Troy looked at him in a manner that proved he wasn't kidding. Chad was speechless.

"I don't even know how to respond to something like this, Troy," Chad said.

He turned around to face Zeke, Jason, and the rest of the team who were all awe-struck.

"I don't know what's gotten into you, Troy," Chad said, "but it needs to stop. I mean, you, audition for a school musical? It upsets the balance, Troy."

"The balance?" Troy asked.

"The balance where we keep the others in line, make sure they stay where they're supposed to," Chad explained.

"Others? What are you talking about, others," Troy asked, becoming angrier by the second.

"Like the brainiacs, the skaters, you know, _the social rejects and wannabes_," Chad said, lowering his voice at the last part.

"Is that what you think we're here for?" Troy asked. "To keep the other so-called wannabes in line? Who in their right mind would decided that? It's completely ridiculous."

"Just trust me when I say, that why be one of _them_, when you can be one of us," Chad said, with the fellow support of the other guys. "I mean come on, Troy, you're our captain, okay, not some musical show-person."

The other guys started to laugh.

"Ever think maybe I could be both?" Troy asked, snatching the music off of the desk and storming between the guys making them spread apart. He reached the door and thrust it open, letting it slam behind him. I stared at the jocks for a moment. Chad met my gaze, but I quickly broke it as I hurried out of the room after Troy.

Not knowing where on earth he would be, a sudden destination popped into my head. I hurried down the hall, turned left and found the secluded staircase that led to Troy's secret spot. Making sure Chad and his buddies weren't anywhere behind me, I hurried up the stairs and found Troy sitting on the bench, breathing heavily.

"Troy?" I asked softly, also breathing heavy. "Are-are you okay?"

He looked up at me with saddened eyes. He then hung his head once more. I took a seat next to him and put a hand on his shoulder.

"They don't know what they're talking about, Troy," I told him. "So don't even listen to 'em. They just can't stand to lose the one person they've looked up to for basketball pointers. You're more than that. And you know it."

He looked up as I said those words. We gazed into each others eyes for a split second until I broke it and looked down at the floor, sliding my hand off of his shoulder as I did so.

"You-you do want to do the callbacks...don't you?" I asked him.

"Definitely," Troy said, the sadness leaving his eyes. "As long as...you want to obviously."

"There's no doubt about it," I said. "I wouldn't miss them for the world."

"Good," Troy replied. "Cause I feel the same way."

The bell signaling free period over rang out. Troy sighed and stood up. I followed suit.

"Shall we?" he said, offering his hand.

I graciously took it and responded, "We shall."

* * *

review!! 


	12. A Special Question and Singing Rehearsal

_**Chapter 12**_

Ever since the pair auditions for the winter musical "Twinkle Towne" yesterday, I haven't exactly been feeling like...myself. Mom suggested that I was just nervous about the callbacks coming up next Thursday. However, I couldn't find any plausible evidence for that suggestion. I felt the reason I wasn't feeling, lack of a better word, together was more than that. It was deeper, like it was down in the very depths of my soul.

Then, I would think about Troy, and the feeling would become even stronger and more vivid than ever. But yet, I still didn't know why. I couldn't _like _like him. We're just friends. Friends that hang out together occasionally and just happen to be fantastic singing partners. There's nothing more to it. At least, that's what I think.

I recalled all of this to Taylor early the next morning in homeroom. After I had finished, Taylor looked straight into my eyes with an expression that clearly stated she thought I was clueless.

"Oh my gosh, Gabriella!" she exclaimed. "Why won't you go ahead and admit it to yourself?"

"Admit what," I said hopelessly.

Taylor lowered her voice.

"That you like Troy. I mean _like _like Troy," she said. "It seems more than obvious to me. You practically light up and get all giggly whenever he comes into a room. You're always talking about him or to him. Admit it, Gabriella. You like him."

I thought about this and looked down at the floor. Before I could respond, a light voice entered my ears.

"Uh, Gabriella?" Troy said, peeking into the classroom. "Are you in here?"

I turned around in my seat and looked straight into Troy's bright blue eyes.

"Oh okay," Troy said. "Can I talk to you for a minute? Alone?"

I glanced at Taylor and replied, "Yeah, sure."

I slid out of the desk and walked towards him, Taylor stifling a laugh behind us.

He led me up to our secret spot on the roof and began to talk, unsteadily at first, but then with more confidence.

"Okay, um, I don't really know how to say this," he began, "but I was just wondering if maybe you wanted to, you know, go...out...with...me tomorrow night?"

Throughout the entire conversation he had avoided my gaze, but was now staring hopefully into my eyes, awaiting my answer. I knew what I wanted to say, he knew what he wanted me to say, but the words wouldn't escape my mouth.

I was utterly speechless. Troy must have seen my trouble with words at the present time, so he broke the silence.

"You know, if you don't want to, you don't have to. You can say no...if you want to, I mean," he said hurriedly.

"No, it's not that," I said. "It's just...I would love to. I...yes. Yes, yes, most definitely yes."

Troy's entire face lit up at my reaction.

"Really?" he said.

I nodded, smiling.

"Awesome," Troy said, smiling back. "I, uh, I'll call you. I'll call you tonight."

"Yeah," I said.

Troy took out his phone and handed it to me. I did the same.

"Here, put your number in," he said.

"You too," I replied.

He handed my phone back to me. I punched in the last number of my cell phone number and handed his phone back to him.

"Great," Troy said happily. "Well I have to get to Mr. Hughes about that Spanish assignment that was for homework. I didn't really understand it."

"Okay," I said. "I'll catch you later then."

Troy nodded, smiled, and took off down the stairs. I squealed with delight as soon as he was out of earshot and hurried down the stairs.

As I had reached the hallway , I collided with someone who was headed in the opposite direction and we both hit the floor.

"Ugh! Watch where you're going!" came a sharp, irritated voice.

I suddenly looked at the person I had ran into.

"Sharpay?" I asked.

It was unusual to see someone of such high stature on the ground and in such disarray.

"Gabriella?" she replied. "I'm sorry, I didn't see you there. I wasn't paying attention to where I was going and then...well yeah."

"It's all right," I said, standing up.

I reached out a hand and she willingly took it. Ever since I had given her the note I wrote her, she had become even nicer than she had seemed to be in the letter she had written me. I pulled her to her feet once again.

"So, where are you off to in such a hurry?" Sharpay asked after she had straightened her outfit and hair.

"Oh uh," I said.

I wanted to tell Sharpay about what had just happened, but since Troy was the actual reason we had gotten so mad at each other in the first place, I decided to keep the date on a need-to-know basis.

"Just going to class," I replied.

"Oh okay," Sharpay said. "Actually, since you aren't going anywhere of that importance, would you like to come to the auditorium with me? I wanted to practice a little for the callbacks. The list is posted by the front door. I saw that you and Troy were also on the list."

"You aren't mad are you?" I asked.

"About what?" Sharpay said.

"That me and Troy are singing together?"

"Oh no, not at all," Sharpay said, laughing that I could ever think that. "Actually, I never knew Troy could sing. He always seemed so absorbed in basketball. Is he good?"

"Oh yeah," I laughed.

Sharpay giggled and continued, "Well, I could even help you practice your song if you want. And plus, I've actually got my eye on someone new now. But absolutely no one can know."

She lowered her voice to a whisper and leaned in closer to tell me who it was.

"Zeke," she said.

"Baylor?!" I asked in awe. "You can't be serious!"

"Well, I am," Sharpay said. "I'm not even sure why, but please don't tell anyone."

"I promise," I said sincerely.

"Now, you haven't answered my question," Sharpay said. "Do you want to come to the auditorium with me?"

"Sure," I said.

"Great," Sharpay said, smiling. "Let's go."

Once in the auditorium, I wasn't surprised to see Kelsi already sitting at the piano. She looked up once she heard the door open. She stood up and waved, surprised to see Sharpay and I walking together and not fighting.

"Hi," Kelsi said.

"Hey, Kelsi," Sharpay greeted. "Gabriella said she would come and practice with me, since Ryan is at home sick."

"Uh, okay," Kelsi replied. "Did you bring the CD for your song, Sharpay?"

"Yeah, Felicity finished it last night for me," Sharpay said gleefully. "You're sure it's okay that I use a CD right?"

"Yeah, it's fine," Kelsi smiled. "I'm sure it sounds better with the CD anyway instead of the piano."

"Great," Sharpay said.

"Who's Felicity?" I asked.

"Me and Ryan's rehearsal pianist," Sharpay returned.

I nodded. Why anyone needed a rehearsal pianist was beyond me. But if you're as dedicated and in-it-to-win-it as Ryan and Sharpay are, I suppose you would need one.

Sharpay handed Kelsi the bright turquoise CD and she put it in the player beside the piano.

"You can sing Ryan's lines if you want to," Sharpay said. "It's okay if you don't get them right the first time. We practiced all last night and I'm still not even sure if I know it. Just try your best, okay?"

"All right then," I said. "I'm ready for anything right now. Hit it."

"But before you do," Sharpay said just as Kelsi was about to press 'play', "don't sing the Spanish lines, because we aren't sure if we want those in there yet."

I nodded and Kelsi pressed 'play'. Spanish-style hip-hop salsa music flooded the auditorium. I waited patiently as Sharpay began to sing her first line.

_I believe in dreamin' shootin' for the stars_

I tried my best at Ryan's line.

_Baby to be number one, you've got to raise the bar_

I stopped and Sharpay started again.

_Kickin' and a-scratchin', grindin' out my best_

I sang the next line.

_Anything it takes to climb the ladder of success_

Sharpay and I were now singing together.

_Work our tails off everyday_

_Gotta bump the competition_

_Blow them all away_

Sharpay happily sang her next three words.

_Yeah we're gonna..._

I joined in, sang my solo part, and sang with Sharpay.

_Bop bop bop, bop to the top_

_Slip and slide and ride that rhythm_

_Jump and hop_

_Hop 'til we drop_

Sharpay took her solo and then I joined in.

_And start again_

_Zip zap zop, pop like a mop_

Sharpay stopped singing and I sang my four-words solo, with Sharpay jumping back in as I finished.

_Scoot around the corner_

_Move it to the groove_

'_Til the music stops_

_Do the bop, bop, bop to the top_

_Don't ever stop_

_Bop to the top_

_Gimme, gimme_

_Shimmy, shimmy_

_Shake some booty and turn around_

_Flash a smile in their direction_

Sharpay energetically sang the next three words with feeling. She was really getting into her song.

_Show some muscle_

I quickly jumped in and attempted Ryan's next part.

_Do the hustle._

Sharpay giggled as there was a split-second music break and then we both began singing again after Sharpay sang her opening words for the chorus.

_Yeah we're gonna_

_Bop, bop, bop_

_Bop to the top_

I even got into the song as Ryan's next part approached quickly. I did little motions for each word, while still attempting to hold the music. Sharpay was laughing so hard, she barely had enough time to join in after I sang the short solo.

_Wipe away your inhibitions_

_Stump, stump, stump_

_Do the rump_

She followed my lead and motioned along to her solo

_And strut your stuff_

We both motioned together on the very last duet of the song.

_Bop, bop, bop_

_Straight to the top_

_Going for the glory_

_We'll keep steppin' up and_

_We just won't stop (stop)_

'_Til we reach the top_

_Bop to the top._

We ended in a final pose with Kelsi laughing and cheering in a standing ovation.

"That was awesome you guys!" Kelsi said. "I don't see why you two do that song."

"Well," Sharpay said, "it would be fun, but I couldn't do that to Ryan. It would crush him."

"Yeah, I know," I said. "It was fun though."

The enjoyable moment was soon interrupted as the bell signaling class to start soon rang out.

"Ugh," Sharpay said. "We always have to be somewhere. Oh, Gabby, you and Troy come in here for free period and we'll practice some more okay?"

"Sure," I said.

I was so glad to have Sharpay as a friend, that I didn't even mind her calling me Gabby. After she had gotten her CD back into the case, Sharpay, Kelsi and I left together for homeroom. I couldn't wait to tell Taylor about all that had happened in less then fifteen minutes.

* * *

review please! 


	13. The Ice Princess

_**Chapter 13**_

That day, as free period was about to begin and we were all released from our third period class, I spotted Troy in the hallway talking to one of his other friends. He looked up and smiled at me. He said his goodbyes to his friend and walked up to me.

"Hey," he said in his cheerful, carefree tone.

"Hey," I replied. "Um, I was talking to Sharpay earlier today."

"What?" he sounded concerned. "What'd she say?"

"Oh no, it's not like that," I said. "As it turns out, me and Sharpay used to be best friends way back when, and now we're taking that path again. It's all right, she and I are good. But anyway, she suggested that you and I go to the auditorium to practice our song for the callbacks. I already helped her with her song this morning before homeroom."

"That's sounds good," he said. "But, I promised the guys that I wouldn't miss another free period workout. I _have_ to be ready for that game like you don't even know."

"It's fine," I said, smiling. "I kinda figured you might have said something like that to them or something. But it's cool. Sharpay will help me practice, and I'll help her practice. You and I can get together after school or something if you want. I'm free."

"Thanks so much, Gabriella," Troy said. "Yeah, but we definitely should get together. Uh, meet me out by the front fountain and we'll either go to your house or mine."

"Great," I said, "see you then."

I smiled and walked past him in the direction of the auditorium. I felt his eyes on me the entire way until I turned the corner.

I wasn't even surprised to see Sharpay already sitting on the edge of the stage with her legs crossed and writing furiously in a bright pink diamond-encrusted spiral notebook. Kelsi, however, was nowhere in sight. I jogged up to Sharpay and she looked up.

"Hey, Gab," she said. "Where's Troy? I thought you said you were bringing him along too."

I sat down next to her.

"Yeah, well," I said, "the whole singing thing didn't fly too well with his friends, so now he promised to never miss a free period workout again. So he won't be joining us, but I'm getting together with him tonight to rehearse."

"Really," said Sharpay in a mischievous voice. "You behave now."

"Sharpay!" I cried, slapping her on the arm. "You might just have the dirtiest mind I've ever seen."

Sharpay giggled and closed her notebook, tossing it on one of the red seats in the front row.

"But..." I said, "if you must know, he did ask me out on a date for tomorrow night."

Sharpay's jaw dropped and her eyes widened.

"Seriously!!" she squealed. "Oh that's so awesome!"

She sounded truly happy for me. I was glad. Sharpay's voice toned down to normal.

"I'm just surprised it took him this long," she laughed.

"What are you talking about?" I asked.

"Well, it's so completely and totally obvious that he's head-over-heels for you!" she giggled. "I just can't believe he took this long to take some action."

I was silent. How much did Troy actually like me?

"But don't get me wrong," Sharpay said. "You two make the cutest couple in the world!!"

"Thanks, Sharpay," I smiled.

"No problem," she said. "Should we get started?"

"Yeah, which reminds me. Where's Kelsi?" I asked her.

"Oh, she told me she had a doctor's appointment," Sharpay replied, "but she left me a CD with two different styles of your song to choose from if you're interested."

"That was nice of her," I said. "So should we just practice in here or is there a more private place, since you know, I don't want anyone walking in and then hearing our songs."

"Oo, good point," Sharpay said. "We could go into one of the unoccupied band practice rooms. Besides, no one ever goes in there anyway. Even the band geeks don't."

I laughed at her comment. Sharpay slid off of the stage and put her baby pink two-inch high-heeled pumps that were lying on the floor back onto her feet.

"Are you ready?" she asked.

"Yeah."

I stood up and jumped down onto the floor. Sharpay smiled and picked up the Dooney & Bourke purse that was sitting beside a Vera Bradley messenger bag and slid it over the opposite shoulder. I still had my blue, green, and yellow striped purse from Old Navy on my shoulder. I looked down at it and giggled.

"What's so funny?" Sharpay asked.

"What? Oh nothing, it's just, I look at all of your designer name things and then at my generic brand things," I said.

"Oh, you mean the Dooney & Bourke and Vera Bradley? Don't be intimidated by that," Sharpay reassured. "I didn't buy any of these things. My aunt that lives in L.A. is a hot-shot video producer and gets _a lot_ and I repeat _a lot_ of money, more than my parents anyway. She loves to buy expensive things and just so happens to have bought all of these things for my birthday. I didn't ask for them, I promise. I'm not _that_ materialistic."

I laughed and said, "I honestly never thought to even call you materialistic."

"Well thanks," Sharpay said. "Let's go."

I smiled and followed her out of the auditorium through a side door.

As we were walking to the stairs (the auditorium was on the first floor and the band practice rooms were on the second floor), I sparked another conversation.

"Hey, Sharpay," I asked her.

"Yeah," she replied, ignoring all of the whispered comments being thrown in our direction.

"How did you, I don't know even know how to say this, become the "Ice Princess"? I've heard people call you that," I asked.

"Oh...that..." she trailed off.

We made our way up one of the staircases. I was shocked to see that everyone on the stairs parted for us so that we had a clear pathway in the middle. It was like the Parting of the Red Sea. As we reached the top of the stairs, Sharpay began her story.

"Well, to be honest with you, back in grade school, I was so mean, people actually believed that I had ice running through my veins. At least, that's what Chelsea Victors said. She was my rival, especially back in third, fourth, and fifth grade. Actually, I'm pretty sure she was the reason why I stayed so mean. It's hard to believe that Chelsea and me were best friends in second grade. But anyway, ever since you came here, the ice has melted away."

I thought about what she had said. Because of me, she had become nicer. Because of me, Sharpay, _the_ Sharpay Evans's title of "Ice Princess" could be lost forever. I shook my head and asked her another question.

"In what way exactly...were you mean?" I asked as we neared the band practice rooms at the end of the hall.

"Well," she sighed, "I picked fights all the time with girls and never let the boys come near me. Ryan made sure of that. He never left my side. He was always there for me like a good brother should be. Anyway, I never actually got _into_ a hitting and punching kind of fight per say. It was more of a battle with words between me and someone else. I would never get in trouble because Ryan and a couple other loyal companions of ours would always say that the other person started it. It turned everyone else against me. People started to fear me and learned to stay out of my way. I never thought much of it. It was just another hobby I enjoyed. All I know is that Ryan never treated me any differently and that I was, lack of a better phrase, the popular "Ice Princess" of the school. Everyone knew me and almost every single person was afraid to get on my bad side, which half of the student body was."

"And all this carried on until middle school and then high school?" I asked, deeply intrigued by the story.

"Yep," she responded. "I'm not proud of it, but it's the life I've lived ever since we stopped being friends in first grade."

"Oh yeah, that," I said. "Why did we even stop being friends in the first place?"

Sharpay laughed before she answered, "Actually, Ryan sat by you at the table one day instead of me and I got all offended because I thought he liked you better than his own sister. It turns out he _like_-liked you, even though in first grade, I'm not sure how I could tell. Anyway, I confronted you about it and you didn't think anything of it. You said I was being too snobby and mean and I said you weren't being a good friend. Then you walked off and we stopped talking to each other. The next day you even went and sat with some other girls, Meredith and Ashley I think, leaving Ryan and me all by ourselves."

I nodded as I thought back on that fateful day.

_I smiled as Sharpay and Ryan entered the spacious first grade room. I was sitting at our table in the head of the room, coloring with some of the new crayons I brought from home. I wouldn't let anyone use them. Sharpay waved energetically and tucked some of her shoulder-length blond hair behind her ear. She hurried over to the table and sat down across from me._

"_Hi S'arpay," I greeted._

"_Hi, Gabby," she replied._

"_Hi Ryan," I said as Ryan made his way over to the table._

"_Hi," Ryan said._

_He slid the red chair from underneath the table beside me and took a seat, looking over my shoulder at the picture I was coloring._

"_Whatcha you drawing?" he asked._

"_A flowuh," I responded._

"_It's pretty," he complimented._

_I smiled at him and then looked at Sharpay. She was glaring at me._

"_What the matter S'arpay?" I asked in a concerned voice. "You don't look happy."_

_Sharpay stood up and walked around the table. She grabbed my hand and led me to a deserted part of the room._

"_Why is Ryan sitting by you?" she asked, on the verge of tears._

"_I donno," I said, shrugging._

"_He's _s'posed _to sit by me, not you," Sharpay whined._

_I was silent. I didn't know what to tell her._

"_He likes me bettuh than you anuhway!" she went on. "I thought you wuh my fwend, Gab'iella!"_

_That did it for me. I glared at her and replied, "Well you ah just being mean, S'arpay. You ahn't being vewy nice!"_

_Sharpay crossed her arms and turned from me, frowning. I did the same. I glanced back at her. She still wasn't looking back at me. After I was certain we would become friends again, I turned all the way around and looked at her._

_Sharpay turned around too but was still glaring._

"_S'arpay?" I asked._

"_I don't wanna talk to you wight now, Gab'iella Montez," Sharpay cried._

_Sharpay walked past me with such an icy stature that I was "frozen" in place for at least a minute. I looked longingly over at the table I was formerly welcomed at and felt a single tear slide down my cheek._

I knew Sharpay was recollecting on the same moment I was, for we were silent for a good five minutes as we approached the band practice rooms.

"I moved the day after that," I said quietly, breaking the tense silence.

"Yeah," Sharpay said.

She shook her head and stopped in front of the door.

"Well, there's no need to think about what's already passed," she went on. "How about we just sing our hearts out?"

"Deal," I said, smiling.

Sharpay turned the handle on the door and pushed it open. Our jaws dropped at the sight we were looking at.

* * *

review please! 


	14. The Band Practice Room

_**Chapter 14**_

"KELSI?!" Sharpay cried, her eyes widened with utter shock.

I was completely speechless. Kelsi and Jason Cross were too close for comfort in the far corner of the band practice room. I couldn't help but think that if Sharpay and I hadn't come into the room, who knows what might have happened.

Kelsi and Jason were speechless. Kelsi knew she had some serious explaining to do, but words would not escape her. Jason looked even more ashamed than Kelsi for having been spotted in such a position.

"Were you two—" Sharpay began to accuse, her voice still in the high-pitched range. "I mean, were you—"

She couldn't finish her sentence, although I knew what she wanted to say. And quite frankly, I wanted to know also.

"Sharpay, I—" Kelsi stammered. "I-it's not what it looks like. I promise!"

"What is it then?" Sharpay said, putting forth her best effort to keep her cool.

I closed the door and stepped back up next to Sharpay, who had her hands on her hips. I didn't exactly want to get involved. From what I knew, Kelsi was one of my friends, and I wasn't about to lose another one.

Kelsi sighed and hung her head.

"I know I told you I was at the doctor," she said. "But I ran into Jason last night in the park and we just sort of hit it off, I guess. Then I met up with him before free period and I guess this is what happened."

Sharpay was put out of place at such an honest explanation.

"Oh," she said. "Well, we just came in here to practice, but now that I see free period is just now beginning, I don't want to waste any more time. Do you guys want to stay or should me and Gabriella go to a different room and leave you two alone."

"Um, I can help you guys practice," Kelsi said. She looked in Jason's direction.

"Yeah, I'll stay," Jason replied. "It would be fun...I suppose."

Sharpay smiled.

"All right," Sharpay said. "Hey, Gab, what song should we do first?"

"Well, since we did yours yesterday, let's do mine," I replied.

Sharpay nodded and set her bag and purse on the floor by the door. I did the same. Kelsi took a seat at the piano and played a few chords to warm up her fingers.

"With Troy's part, you can take it an octave higher," I said. "It's pretty low, even for me."

"Okay," Sharpay replied.

She cleared her throat and closed her eyes.

"Um, what are you doing?" I asked her.

"Meditating," she said like everyone should know what she was doing.

She didn't open her eyes for a good minute or so.

"All right," she announced, "let's do this."

I laughed at her. Sharpay smiled.

Kelsi looked up at us and began the soft piano notes. Sharpay closed her eyes again and felt the feeling the song was giving off as she began her solo. I listened to her intently. I noticed how sweet and serene of a voice she truly had. The callbacks on Thursday would certainly be an interesting event.

I began my solo but was cut off as Sharpay's cell phone began to ring.

"Oh my gosh!" she cried. "I am so sorry. It'll just be a second, I promise."

I smiled as I watched Sharpay scurry over to her purse that was emitting the sounds of Natasha Bedingfield's "Unwritten". She unzipped the purse and pulled out her phone.

"It's a number I don't recognize," she announced to us. "Do you know a 238-8473?"

Kelsi and I shook our heads, but Jason spoke up.

"Yeah," he said. "That's Zeke's cell number."

"Zeke's?" Sharpay asked in delighted surprise.

Only I knew why she was so happy.

"Answer it already!" I persuaded.

Sharpay quickly opened her phone.

"Hello?" she asked desperately.

I gave her a look. She quickly eased up and became less tense.

"Oh hey, Zeke...just rehearsing for the callbacks next Thursday, how about you?...oh okay...this Saturday?...oh, absolutely nothing...sure! I'd love to!...right now?...sure, that would be okay...great, see you then!"

She hung up the phone and was absolutely silent with a smug smile plastered on her face. All three of us were awaiting an explanation.

"So..." I said, "what'd he say?"

Even though I knew perfectly well what he said, and I'm sure Kelsi and Jason knew too, it was a question always asked in the present situation.

"Zeke just asked me on a date this Saturday!!!" Sharpay squealed.

I hurried up to her.

"Oh Sharpay, that's so great!! I'm truly happy for you."

"He also said to meet him out by the gym, he was finishing up the workout. He said he wanted to tell me something else but had to go," Sharpay continued. "You don't mind I go do you? I promise we can practice tomorrow."

"Go ahead," I smiled. "Enjoy yourself. But don't have too much fun now!"

"Gabriella," Sharpay replied. "Don't be dirty."

I laughed and waved.

"See ya later," I said.

"Bye, Gabriella. See ya, Kelsi. Later, Jason," Sharpay concluded.

And with that, she left the band practice room.

There was a sudden silence in the room. Jason stepped forward and asked, "So...are Zeke and Sharpay officially going out?"

"It would seem that way," I responded. "She told me earlier today that she liked him."

"Well, Zeke has had a crush on Sharpay since like fourth grade," Jason went on, "and he's finally found enough courage to ask her out."

"Why was he attracted to her back then?" Kelsi asked.

She sat back down at the piano. (She had stood up when Sharpay explained the phone call)

"I mean, it's not like she was the nicest person to be around," she explained.

"She— he—...You know, I don't really know why," Jason stammered. "He never really gave me a direct explanation."

I shrugged and looked at the clock on the wall at the head of the room. It was 11:30. There was still an hour of free period left.

"Well, I have to go get my backpack from the auditorium, so I'll see you guys later," I announced.

"Bye," Jason said.

"See you tomorrow," Kelsi called out.

I smiled and just as I was about to leave, I asked Jason, "Hey aren't you supposed to be in the gym?"

Jason stood there, dumbstruck.

"I guess I'd better go too then," he laughed.

"Well, Gabriella, why don't you and I go watch the basketball practice? I'm sure Sharpay'll be in there," Kelsi suggested.

"Sounds like a plan."

The three of us left the room. I was extremely excited for only a few things: Sharpay as my friend once again, her new-found love, and today after school.

* * *

review please! 


	15. The Chemicals React

_**Chapter 15**_

I tapped my foot in anticipation as the final seconds of last period Ancient History ticked by. I was over-the-top, extremely excited for my singing date with Troy this afternoon. I was thrilled, and I was nervous and scared too, but I wasn't exactly sure why. He and I both know that we like each other, so there aren't any more secrets. But I guess I'm just nervous about what might happen.

The bell sounded and I was one of the first out of the classroom. I looked around earnestly for Troy. I knew he had Chemistry last and that was just down on the opposite side of the hallway. I spotted him at my locker, checking the huge white clock on the wall a few feet away. He was waiting for me. I smiled and walked up to him, not to seem too anxious.

"Hey, you," I greeted him, beginning to turn the dial on my green combination lock.

"Hey," he said, flashing me one of his famous million-dollar smiles.

I giggled and smiled back. I opened my locker and put in all of my books. I strangely had no homework that nith. I shut my locker and looked at Troy.

"You ready to go?" I asked him.

"Most definitely," he replied.

Troy and I walked out of the school together, chatting all along the way.

We decided to go to my house, since it was the first one we met along the road. As we approached it, there was a note taped onto the front door written in Mom's neat and tidy scrawl.

_Gabby,_

_Dr. O'Connell needed me to stay and help him with a few of the babies here. One of the poor little things has lung trouble and can hardly breathe on her own, and the other two just need attention while the parents rest. All of the other nurses couldn't stay, so I volunteered. I found a good sitter for Isabella so you won't have to worry about her over night. It's one of my friends from work, Lori. Her number is on the fridge and I gave her your cell if that's okay. She has a little girl Izzy's age. I left money on the counter in case you want to order out. Call me on my cell if you need anything. I'll be back late tonight; I'm not sure when. I love you._

_Mom_

Troy read the note over my shoulder. I smiled at his presence.

"So you're mom isn't home, or your sister it looks like?" Troy asked. "I didn't know you had a sister."

"Yeah, she's three and the cutest little thing you'll ever see," I answered.

Troy laughed and looked at me.

"So," I went on, "it's just you and me. I'm sure my mom won't mind if I have a friend over for a little while. You can stay for dinner if you want. She said we could order whatever."

"Yeah all right," Troy said. "I'll call my mom and let her know so she won't worry."

I took out my house key and unlocked the front door, letting the two of us in.

I watched as Troy took in his surroundings. He nodded in approval. He noticed me watching him and I quickly looked away. I wouldn't make this experience an awkward one. I set my backpack on the floor beside the front door.

"Go ahead and make yourself at home," I said, making my way to the kitchen. "Are you thirsty? Hungry, or anything?"

"Umm, do you have any coke products?" Troy asked. "A Sprite would be very nice right now."

I thought for a moment and called back to him from the kitchen, "You're in luck, there's one left!"

"Great," Troy laughed.

Troy walked around the living room and smiled at how 'homey' it felt. He looked at all of the pictures that were on the sleek Grand piano in the right corner of the living room. They were all pictures of me and Isabella. He smiled.

Troy couldn't help but feel that he belonged here and fit in here. He felt so comfortable. Troy shook his head and directed his attention to the kitchen where he heard a soft voice singing a song he recognized. He had heard it on the radio tons of times.

He tip-toed over to the kitchen and stood next to the doorway, not visible to me. He listened intently, mesmerized by the soothing sound of my voice.

_You make me feel_

_Out of my element_

_Like I'm walking on broken glass_

_Like my world's spinnin' in slow motion_

_and you're movin' too fast..._

I instantly stopped singing and looked towards the doorway. Troy had moved and was now leaning against the doorframe. I didn't know what to say.

"I didn't know you liked Aly and AJ," he announced.

"My cousin, Arabella, got me hooked," I confessed. "She's twelve and Aly and AJ are about all she listens to, aside from like Kelly Clarkson and Hilary Duff." I paused. "Hey, how'd you recognize the song?"

"It's on the radio practically all the time," Troy replied. "But you sing it much better than they do."

I smiled at his compliment.

"So," I said, handing him his Sprite and taking a sip of the Lipton raspberry ice tea I had just mixed, "what kind of music do you listen to. Like what bands."

I set my glass on the island and took a seat on one of the bar stools. Troy opened the can of Sprite and sat down next to me.

"Well, let's see, I like Relient K, The Fray, Daniel Powter, Lifehouse, groups like that," he answered. "You?"

"Aly and AJ, obviously," I began, giggling, "The Veronicas, Daniel Powter - I love his song "Bad Day" - Carrie Underwood, and Stacie Orrico. I know, I know, I'm not really up to the new trends like you are, but I'd die without these people."

"No, it's cool, I just...uh...who are The Veronicas?" Troy asked, embarrassed of his question.

"Well, they sing that one song, "4ever". You've probably heard it," I said.

_Come on baby we ain't gonna live 4ever_

_Let me show you all the things that we could do_

_You know you wanna be together_

_And I wanna spend the night with you_

_Yeah, yeah, with you, yeah, yeah_

_Come with me tonight_

_We can make the night last forever_

"Oh yeah, I've heard that song," Troy said. "My thirteen-year-old sister Kathryn loves it."

"You have a sister?" I asked him.

"Yeah," he replied. "She's basically a miniature me in practically every way."

"Oh really," I said, taking another sip of my tea, "and how is that."

"She looks almost exactly like me, except you know, she's a girl, she's in love with basketball, and she happens to be one smart little girl," Troy said.

I laughed.

"I'd love to meet her," I said, smiling. "She sounds fascinating."

"Well, she _is_ related to me you know," Troy said matter-of-factly.

I playfully slapped him on the arm.

"Hey," he cried out, "what was that for?"

I shrugged and smiled.

"So," I said, "should we get started?"

"Sure," Troy responded.

"I'll go get the music," I said. "Where's yours?"

"In the front pocket of my backpack," Troy answered.

"Okay," I remarked.

I hurried off out of the kitchen and came back in a few minutes with music in hand. I was suddenly quiet because Troy had decided to call his mom and tell her where he was.

"Yes mother," he went on. "Yes, I will...yes we'll be fine...yeah...I know...all right...see ya later...all right, bye."

He shut his phone and turned to me, taking the music I held out for him.

"She said to tell you thank you for having me over and to be back by eight," he explained.

"We'll be done before then, I'm sure," I reassure him. "Oh, Kelsi made us a CD for our song."

"That's cool," Troy said. "Do you have a CD player to play it?"

"Of course," I said. "It's up in my room. Come on."

I grabbed my glass and led Troy to the right of the refrigerator, where a staircase stood leading up to the second floor. I turned the handle on the first door on the right of the hallway, my bedroom. I closed it behind us and watched Troy as he once again absorbed his surroundings.

My bed was in the center of the left wall as you walked in and beyond it to the right were the French doors leading out to the balcony. In front of the doors was my pink-colored love seat and glass coffee table. My armoire holding my television was facing the love seat on the opposite wall and my closet was on the right wall. My desk was beside the closet and on the wall were all of my scholastic trophies and medals on special shelves. There was an occasional poster plastered on the wall.

"Well, whatta you thank?" I asked him as he turned all the way around.

"I like it," Troy said sincerely, flopping down on the love seat and setting his Sprite can on a purple coaster on the glass table. "It's very elegant."

"Well thank you," I replied, making my way to the armoire where inside was my TV and CD player.

I inserted the CD into the player and pressed play. The first track was our song with just the piano. Troy began the song as I took a seat next to him.

_We're soarin', flyin', there's not a star in heaven that we can't reach_

I smiled and began my solo.

_If we're tryin' so we're breakin' free_

Troy took a deep breath and started his second solo.

_You know the world can see us in a way that's different than who we are_

Immediately after he stopped singing I eased in to my second solo.

_Creating space between us 'til we're separate hearts_

We were now singing together in perfect harmony.

_But your faith it gives me strength, strength to believe_

_We're breakin' free_

_We're soarin'_

_Flyin'_

_There's not a star in heaven that we can't reach_

_If we're tryin'_

Yeah_ we're breakin' free_

_Oh we're breakin' free_

_Ohhh_

Troy stood up and took my hand to help me up. He started his solo.

_Can you feel it building like a wave the ocean just can't control_

I giggled and started mine.

_Connected by a feelin', ohhh, in our very souls_

He added a little part and we both started singing.

_Very souls, ooh_

_Rising 'til it lifts us up so everyone can see_

_We're breakin' free_

_We're soarin'_

_Flyin'_

_There's not a star in heaven that we can't reach_

_If we're tryin'_

Yeah_ we're breakin' free_

_Oh we're breakin' free_

I began to sing the bridge of song.

_Ohhh, runnin'_

Troy did the same with his part

_Climbin', to get to that place_

Our voices both joined together, then broke apart in solos.

_To be all that we can be_

_Now's the time_

_So we're breakin' free_

_We're breakin' free_

_Ohhh, yeah_

_More than hope, more than faith_

_This is truth, this is fate, and together_

_We see it comin'_

_More than you, more than me_

_Not a want, but a need_

_Both of us breakin' free_

_Soarin'_

_Flyin'_

_There's not a star in heaven that we can't reach, if we're tryin'_

_Yeah we're breakin' free_

_Breakin' free...We're runnin'_

_Ohh climbin'_

_To get to the place to be all that we can be...Now's the time_

_Now's the time, yeah_

_So we're breakin' free_

_Oh we're breakin' free_

_Ohhh_

_You know the world can see us in a way that's different than who we are..._

I smiled as we completed the song. Somewhere, deep down inside, I never wanted this moment to end. I looked at Troy and our eyes met. I could sense he was feeling the same way.

* * *

review please 


	16. True Potential

_**Chapter 16**_

I took a deep breath and looked away from Troy, fixing my gaze on nowhere in particular. The second version of the song began. I bent down and slowly reached for the CD player's remote that was sitting in a green basket on the glass table. I pressed the red "stop" button and set the remote back in its place.

Troy took a deep breath also and looked at me. I smiled.

"Wow," he said softly. "That was...amazing."

"Yeah," I agreed. "Well, I mean, you sing it really well."

"Not as good as you," Troy said, breaking into a smile.

"Well, I wouldn't say that I don't agree with you," I replied playfully.

Troy laughed.

"Ha ha very funny," he said.

I walked over to the armoire. I popped the CD out of the player and set it back in its case. Closing the doors on the armoire, I turned to face Troy. He had moved out onto the middle of the floor, only a few steps away from me. He was reading a banner that was hanging beside the armoire. My grandmother had made it for me when I was born.

I don't even have an idea of how the next few minutes of my life fell into place. He just looked so peaceful and carefree standing there. I didn't even notice that I had decided to walk too close to the coffee table. Lost in thought, I tripped on the outer leg of the table and the next thing I knew, I had fallen into Troy's arms. I was literally falling for him.

I looked up into his sparkling blue eyes. We were both speechless for the split-second it took for him to help me to my feet once again.

"A-are you okay?" he stammered, still holding my hand from when he helped me up.

Neither of us noticed it until he looked down. He quickly pulled it away and glanced up at me.

"Yeah...yeah, I'm fine...now," I said quietly. "Thanks."

"Sure," he said.

The two of us didn't know what to say. I opened my mouth, but shut it quickly. This was the exact awkward moment I was hoping to avoid, but I loved every second of it.

"Um, why don't we go order something to eat?" I suggested. "I'm kind of hungry."

"Yeah," Troy mumbled. "Yeah, that sounds good."

I smiled and said, "All right. Let's go back downstairs."

Troy smiled back and followed me out of my room, leaving his denim jacket on my love seat.

Once downstairs, I had retrieved the Yellow Pages phone book and the phone from the kitchen. I sat down on one end of the couch. Considering the previous events, Troy sat on the other end. I looked at him and raised my eyebrows.

"Why are you sitting all the way over there?" I inquired. "You can't really help me choose something to eat when you're that far away."

I patted the space on the brown leather couch beside me and looked at him earnestly. Without hesitation and to my pleasure, Troy scooted over.

"There, that's better," I said, smiling. "So, what are you in the mood for? Pizza, Chinese, Japanese. Whatever you want, they probably have it in here."

"Wow I could really go for some Chinese," he answered smiling.

"That's just what I was thinking," I smiled.

After the orders of white rice, General Tsao's chicken, beef and broccoli, and pot stickers arrived at my door. Troy began flipping through the channels but stopped on ESPN. An intense basketball game was going on between the Tennessee Volunteers and the Western Kentucky Hilltoppers. I sat down next to him and immediately claimed I was cheering for Kentucky. Troy agreed, but we were disappointed to find that the Volunteers beat the Hilltoppers by a good fourteen points.

It was my turn to flip through the channels. I gasped as soon as I saw the movie "Forrest Gump" playing on TBS.

"Oh my gosh, we so have to watch this!!" I squealed. "It's such a sweet movie."

Troy laughed and looked at me.

"What!" I giggled. "It's a really good movie."

"No, it's not that," he said.

"Then what?" I asked.

"Well," he began. "Didn't you say you were friends with Sharpay when you were younger?"

I nodded, turning down the volume on the television.

"Well I just don't see how that could be possible."

"What do you mean?" I asked cautiously.

"Well you two are so different," Troy explained. "She's so...well I don't know...just not like you. I mean you're so sweet and nice and caring."

"Sharpay is too," I defended. "I mean, once you break past the 'ice princess' barrier. She really is a sweet person, no matter what the rest of the school thinks, and she did like you a lot, enough to make her say those things to me, but she got over that, because she didn't want to risk our friendship again over something stupid like a crush. I guess what I'm trying to say is, Sharpay isn't the mean girl everyone, even you, thinks she is. She's only so mean because it's the only way she knows of dealing with her internal pain and suffering of not really having any friends. But she's letting that part of her go. All she really needed was to have someone who really cared about her."

"And that was you," Troy assumed, somewhat smiling.

I nodded.

"Well, if it wasn't for you then maybe the 'ice princess' would have never turned back to being nice," Troy laughed. "I'm just glad you came along to show her that."

I giggled.

"Speaking of someone's true potential," I said, "what do your friends think of you now that you're half-dedicated to the whole singing thing?"

"Oh," Troy said dully, "that. Well, I still don't think they understand why I like it so much. It just seems like whenever I try to talk to Chad or Zeke or someone about it, then they immediately accuse that I'm not devoted to basketball that much anymore, which believe me I still am. I love it. But they don't seem to get that you don't have to be devoted to one thing or have just one hobby."

I nodded, unsure of the right response.

"Well, I'm glad you sang with me yesterday," I smiled.

Troy nodded.

"You're a cool guy, Troy," I complimented. "But not for the reasons your friends think."

He looked at me and then at the tv. I knew he was at peace with this statement and understood it to its fullest extent, even if he didn't show it. I sighed and we watched the movie in silence until its end.

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finally here is chapter 16. please review! 


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